Shen denies rumors of supporting Lien in Taipei mayoral race

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) yesterday denied accusations claiming that his bid for Taipei mayor was meant as a measure of support for Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Sean Lien (連勝文).

Public rumors have suggested that Shen, who announced his mayoral bid just last week, was aiming to "protect Lien and attack Ko Wen-je (柯文哲)," the pan-green camp's representative.

Shen originally announced that he would be running for the much-coveted position as he found it unacceptable that "rich boy Lien" and "inexperienced Ko" were the only two candidates in the race so far.

Yesterday, the former lawmaker reiterated that he was entering the elections because he "wanted to win."

Shen, 74, also called for Ko to meet him in person, and to stop his "hide-and-seek" games during a speech yesterday. "I was invited to a political debate show several days ago, was ridiculed because of my age and some even doubted my motivation behind my mayoral bid ... I have been feeling down (because of the accusations) these days and had to cancel two events," said Shen.

Shen considered the accusation of him beating down Ko to show his support of Lien "troubling," as there was no logic to the claim.

"My running in the election would affect Lien more than it does Ko: I would be taking the votes away from Lien, instead of Ko. But so far, it is not the Lien-supporters who have attacked me, but the people who will receive the benefits. I am disgruntled," Shen continued, indicating that he and Ko have the same political preferences.

The weathered politician noted his confusion over the accusation, and called for all pan-green supporters to call the TV station hosting the political debate show to express their opinions. "If the majority of the public opinion indicate that I am indeed hoping to sabotage Ko to help Lien, I will reconsider my steps in the election," said Shen.